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You, Too, Could Be a Leader!

Submitted by Mark on Thu, 11/09/2023 - 18:13

One dictionary defines a leader as “one who shows or conducts the way; a chief or commander.” In another, the meaning is given as "a directing, commanding or guiding head.” There are other meanings to the word, such as "the short length of line used to attach a fishing lure", and "an article offered at low price to attract customers." While the last two could well be used to symbolize some less than desirable aspects of our country's political processes, especially at election time, it is the first two definitions which describe the meanings that usually apply to politics.
There are two political meanings to the word. They are subtly different, but the difference is important. The prime minister and his cabinet command and direct the daily affairs of the country; but the way, the path to be taken, the direction in which the nation is to head should be defined by the will of the people. The vision of that direction should come not from a small group of vested interests, but from patriots and visionaries who have the good of the nation, indeed the good of the planet, as their goal.
Canadian voters have always had the constitutional right to organize into a party and seek to represent the general population rather than the aristocracy, but until now the biggest obstacle has usually been the cost of communication. Before the Internet, lots of money was required.
I don’t think we need to have that serf/aristocrat polarity any more. The world has changed a lot since the Middle Ages, and the dividing line between the two groups has become somewhat blurred. But right now it's apparent that we still maintain that class division, so it’s what we have to work with. Both groups need to be accommodated as we work out a better way.
In this age of instant and virtually free communication it has now become possible for control of our political destiny to become vested in the country's citizens, as it never has been before. You, too, can be a leader, the way our founding fathers, as well as maybe your own forefathers (and 'mothers), meant you to be.
Our constitution bestows upon us the process by which we can make the changes required to turn this nation into one of the world's first true democracies. But the two old-line parties will never agree to the constitutional changes required to represent the people more fairly. The Liberals and the Conservatives are two sides of the same coin. They have been mostly backed, and therefore mostly controlled, by that rich and powerful element which pursues its own self-interests and generally seems to have nothing but ignorance of, or disdain for, the needs and wants of the common people. The worst thing we could do in the next federal election would be to allow ourselves to be led once again into giving a majority to one of the old-line parties, thereby sealing our commitment to the same unimaginative and ineffective approach for the next four years. The best we could do might be to lead ourselves, into electing a minority government made up of members from the other, 'fringe' parties, or even better, independent members, who are willing and ready to work together to address the serious threats facing us all.

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